Love Is Blind
by tt22123
Summary: A spell meant for Arthur leaves Merlin blind. How will the two of them cope. I do not own Merlin nor any of the characters within


Merlin saw as the vibrant blue spell shot towards his Prince and without hesitating for a single breath, he leapt in front of Arthur and the spell hit him right in the middle of his chest. Little did the warlock know that that bolt of blue would be the last image his eyes would ever capture as they slowly faded into the misty white colour of unseeing. It seemed slow to Merlin as his vision slowly faded away and he looked for the last time to his Prince but in reality it happened faster than anyone present could blink. So fast that Arthur had barely comprehended that the azure bold had been intercepted by his own manservant until he saw it hit the man, sending him flying with the force of it.

That happened three weeks ago and Gauis had still not ceased his search for a cure but to no avail. Merlin had tried to continue his work for Arthur but the day after the spell found his mark he turned up in the Prince's bedchambers, only to find that Uther had already replaced him. He knew his way around the castle well but it all seemed very different in the permanent darkness he now lived his life in so it was like having to learn his way around all over again.

After a week it became disheartening and so he stopped leaving his chambers, seeking solitude there. The halls were hard to learn on your own when you have no way of seeing where it is that you are. The herbs that Gauis tried to get him to collect were often wrong as he couldn't see what colour flowers were on the plants to know if he were picking the correct thing. A manservant without vision is no use to anyone so he didn't even have the tasks of his job to keep him distracted from the reality that was now his life. The pages of the spell books were blank to Merlin's eyes so he couldn't practise new spells anymore. The walls of his room being the only area of the castle that he was able to successfully navigate due to his self-imposed imprisonment.

It was during his second week without his vision that Merlin found himself with a guest in his chambers. Not a word was spoken, nor any clue given to their presence, except for the gentle pressure on Merlin's lips from another. He spent the rest of the day trying to figure out who it would be that would come into his chambers, kiss him, and then leave, occasionally running his fingertips over his lips as if he would be able to tell through that touch. By the end of the day he had been able to rule out everyone that he could think of. Gwen was his friend, nothing more. Morgana would never kiss Merlin if her life depended on it. Lancelot and Gwaine both liked males as well as females but neither of them would kiss Merlin without announcing who it was. Freya was dead, along with Will, so he knew it wasn't either of them for definite, unless he was going completely bonkers. That ruled out everyone.

His solitude continued and with each day that it did his mystery guest would return, not always in the morning, but everyday they would be there and would press a chaste kiss to Merlin's lips before leaving without a single word. Until the day exactly three weeks after it had occurred when Merlin decided that he had had enough of his guest being anonymous.

"Wait. Please?" whispered the manservant, longing for whoever it was to listen to his words. He felt his bed dip under the weight of someone sitting down at the foot of it, opposite him. "Please, tell me who you are?" Rather than an answer Merlin felt who ever it was pick up his hands in their own large, calloused hands. That was his first clue as to who it was, but the answers came when the other person placed Merlin's hands onto their face for him to figure out who it was.

Almost instantly Merlin breathed out the Prince's name, knowing it to be him but nonetheless his fingers travelled on, mapping the face he knew so well from his dreams and memories of the man. Curious fingers followed eyebrows, traced eyes, ran along cheekbones, grazed along his chin before tentatively mapping out lips, shivering when they parted slightly and he felt the soft gust of air as the Prince sighed.

"Merlin-"

"Arthur-" Merlin whispered this response as his eyes began to tear up and the salty water left tracks along his pale cheeks, quickly wiped away each time by the Prince.

"Don't cry Merlin, what's wrong?"

"It's just, well, I wish I could see your face again. It's like with each passing day I forget what another person looks like and I'm scared to forget you, your face. I've already lost you in reality, I can't lose you in my mind as well." The bed shifted as the Prince moved even close to the man, pulling him sideways onto his lap and wrapping his arms around the crying man.

"You haven't lost me Merlin. You will never lose me."

"No, you don't understand. I already have, there are things that you don't know Arthur."

"No Merlin, you don't understand. There is nothing that could ever take me from you or you from me, I won't allow it."

"I am magic though Arthur," whispered Merlin sadly.

"I know that though Merlin," mocked the Prince.

"But you-"

"Oh please, you think you could hide it from me? I survived so many things that I shouldn't have, fought things that couldn't be killed without magic being used, you're the only thing in common with all of those events. Of course it was you."

"But Uther-"

"He doesn't know."

"But I thought you had to tell him."

"As far as I'm aware, you've only ever used your magic to save me and others, my father would still have you killed but I don't agree with that idea."

"So you-"

"Love you? Yeah. I figure that isn't what you were about to say but it is true anyway so we might as well cut to the chase. I love you Merlin."

"Umm, I love you too Arthur Pendragon."

"You don't seem so sure of that."

"Oh I am sure of what I said, I just don't understand why you feel the same way."

"Merlin, you clotpole, you have saved me and so many others, numerous times and yet you act like the clumsy idiot who does nothing but hide and gets no recognition. You would stand in the stocks for hours with a smile on your face because you knew that the children were having fun. Not to mention the fact that you're the only one stupid enough to ever put up with me."

"Wow, you know how to make a guy feel special don't you. Thank you."

"I'm sorry by the way Merlin, it wasn't meant to be you who got hit with that curse, it was meant to be me. I should be the one in permanent darkness, not you, perhaps in future you should save me in a way that doesn't put you in harm's way."

"I wouldn't have had it any other way though Sire. You would have a hard time ruling your kingdom when you are unable to see, I am nothing but a serving boy, not even that anymore I suppose. It is my destiny to save you and watch you become the once and future king of Albion, I will do whatever it takes no matter what the cost to me."

"Albion?"

"You and I are destined to unite the land with magic when you become king, the land to be know as Albion. The once and future king, Arthur Pendragon, and the most powerful warlock of all, Emrys, working together. I was always meant to come to Camelot, to learn to control my magic here. Although that is on indefinite hold since I can't read the books or see the incantations."

"You're Emrys?!" Merlin nodded. "So all those times you pretended you didn't know what people were talking about when discussing Emrys, you knew that was you?" Once again, a nod was the only answer. "How long have you known?"

"Since the great dragon told me, almost as soon as I arrived in Camelot and made your acquaintance with a broom."

"I can't believe you hid that from me for this long."

"Well, it seems we were both hiding things doesn't it? After all, I don't remember you telling me about how you felt."

"Umm, neither did you."

"True, so what say you that we make up for it?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me." With this Merlin lifted his head and captured Arthur's lips in a searing kiss that burned their blood and he knew that perhaps Arthur was right, this time, there was nothing that could tear them apart.


End file.
